RedHanded

In October 1993, River Phoenix crashed out of Johnny Depp’s exclusive club, fell onto the pavement, and died. An hour earlier, the 23-year-old rising star had snorted a lethal combination of cocaine and heroin known as a ‘speedball’ in the toilets. As he staggered around the club, no one offered Phoenix anything more than a valium to "take the edge off”. How did Johnny Depp’s club become such a den of iniquity and excess? And more importantly, how did it survive after the death of Hollywood’s golden boy? -- Patreon - Ad-free & Bonus Episodes YouTube - Full-length Video Episodes TikTok / Instagram Sources and more available on redhandedpodcast.com

The year was 1917, and revolution was in the air in Russia. After sustaining heavy losses in WW1, the fall of the House of Romanov seemed inevitable. And one night the Tsar, his wife, and their five children, were shot, stabbed, burned with acid, set on fire, blown up with grenades and buried deep in Koptyaki forest. But then, rumours began to circulate that there had been survivors of the massacre… And over the years, numerous women came forward claiming to be the Grand Duchess Anastasia. What follows is a story of “delusion, fabrication, sham, romance, burlesque, travesty and humbug”. Press play to solve the mystery. Listen to our episode on Rasputin here – Patreon - Ad-free & Bonus Episodes YouTube - Full-length Video Episodes TikTok / Instagram Sources and more available on redhandedpodcast.com

How does a family completely vanish? That was the question that plagued investigators after Michael McStay reported his brother Joe McStay missing on the 15th of February 2010, along with Joe’s wife Summer, and their two children, Joe Jr and Gianni. It took four years to discover the fate of the McStay family: a fate that cast a lens across their entire lives. Everyone from Joe’s business associates Chase Merrit and Dan Kavanaugh, to Joe’s own brother Michael, had something to gain from the family’s disappearance – but who had the mentality to kill them for it? -- Patreon - Ad-free & Bonus Episodes YouTube - Full-length Video Episodes TikTok / Instagram Sources and more available on redhandedpodcast.com

Turning lead into gold and living forever: that’s about the summation of our modern understanding of Alchemy. Informed by high-fantasy films and pop history, it now brings to mind dark, arcane ceremonies in castle ruins, playing God in the pursuit of limitless riches and immortality. However, the reality is that Alchemy spanned thousands of years and countless cultures. It was the precursor to modern science, and undoubtedly changed humanity’s understanding of the world around us. This is the ShortHand. – Patreon - Ad-free & Bonus Episodes YouTube - Full-length Video Episodes TikTok / Instagram Sources and more available on redhandedpodcast.com

Alien autopsies, flying saucers, and top secret government programs: three things alleged to be hiding in ‘Area 51’. Officially known as Homey Airport or Groom Lake, this secret government testing facility in Nevada has been the epicentre of UFO folklore for over a century – yet the CIA only admitted its existence in 2013. So what’s really going on behind those big metal gates? Listen to this week’s ShortHanded to find out! -- Patreon - Ad-free & Bonus Episodes YouTube - Full-length Video Episodes TikTok / Instagram Sources and more available on redhandedpodcast.com

Amid the chaos now unfolding in Mexico after the February 2026 assassination of drug cartel boss El Mencho, we’re throwing it back to the 1985 torture and murder of American DEA agent Enrique ‘Kiki’ Camarena at the hands of the ruthless Guadalajara Cartel… and how Kiki's death triggered the chain reaction that led to the drug wars raging in Mexico today. With whispers of a Cold War CIA conspiracy that still refuse to die, was Kiki on the brink of uncovering an inconvenient truth about the USA’s War on Drugs? And if so, was he silenced by the very country he dedicated his life to protect? We're diving into a gritty underworld of cartels, conspiracy and deep-state corruption to find the answers. -- Patreon - Ad-free & Bonus Episodes YouTube - Full-length Video Episodes TikTok / Instagram Sources and more available on redhandedpodcast.com

In the darkest hour of WWII, as bombs threatened Europe’s historic cities, a small unit was sent to the front lines – not to fight, but to save art history itself. The 'Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives' section of the US Army, known as the Monuments Men, was tasked with protecting Europe's centuries of culture from destruction. And then, when Hitler was cornered, the Monuments Men had a new mission: track down the vast hoards of looted Nazi treasure, and stop them from blowing it all up. – Patreon - Ad-free & Bonus Episodes YouTube - Full-length Video Episodes TikTok / Instagram Sources and more available on redhandedpodcast.com

“On that day, there were no flies on the dead. The flies were dead too.” On the 21st of August 1986, 1746 people and 3500 livestock died in the Cameroonian village of Nyos, died suddenly, and all at once. Ancient folklore had long cautioned the inhabitants of Nyos about evil spirits that lurked deep within their crater lake, but the grim reality far exceeded the unsettling myths. What took place that evening, was one of two natural disasters ever recorded of its kind, and the next one could claim the lives of millions. -- Patreon - Ad-free & Bonus Episodes YouTube - Full-length Video Episodes TikTok / Instagram Sources and more available on redhandedpodcast.com

In December 2006, the town of Ipswich was rocked by a spree of brutal murders targeting sex workers in its notorious red light area. But the story didn’t end with the capture of the so-called ‘Suffolk Strangler’, Steve Wright… The murders of Tania Nicol, Gemma Adams, Anneli Alderton, Annette Nicholls and Paula Clennell would go on to transform policing strategies for prostitution in the UK (and even inspired a tone-deaf musical). And with killer Steve Wright back in the news in February 2026 after pleading guilty to the murder of schoolgirl Victoria Hall in 1999, this decades-old case still hasn’t run out of surprises. -- Patreon - Ad-free & Bonus Episodes YouTube - Full-length Video Episodes TikTok / Instagram Sources and more available on redhandedpodcast.com

EmptyHanded is back! We’re joined by comedian Abi Clarke to discuss all things racy, risky and romantic – and read out some of the most scandalous listener-provided stories we’ve ever heard. – Patreon - Ad-free & Bonus Episodes YouTube - Full-length Video Episodes TikTok / Instagram Sources and more available on redhandedpodcast.com

Valentine's Day is the perfect time to dive into the surprising, and at times horrifying, history of contraception through the ages; from crocodile-dung pessaries and mercury-tadpole concoctions to penis sheaths made of turtle shells, humanity has come a long way in its efforts to outsmart the stork. This is the ShortHand. -- Patreon - Ad-free & Bonus Episodes YouTube - Full-length Video Episodes TikTok / Instagram Sources and more available on redhandedpodcast.com

When Brendan Banfield frantically called 911 in February 2023 to report a double murder at his million-dollar suburban home in Virginia, it seemed like an extramarital sex game gone wrong. But as police dug deeper, the deaths of Christine Banfield and Joe Ryan – the stranger found beside her – proved even weirder than they once appeared. And all the evidence pointed to a dastardly plot between Brendan and the family’s Brazilian nanny, Juliana Peres Magalhães, in a twisted web of infidelity, catfishing, and betrayal… So did this bloodthirsty Bonnie and Clyde duo conspire to commit the grisly killings? With everyone talking about the sensational trial that wrapped up in February 2026, we’re diving into one of the most shocking cases we’ve ever covered. Watch this episode on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/s4yaGloq8zk -- Patreon - Ad-free & Bonus Episodes YouTube - Full-length Video Episodes TikTok / Instagram Sources and more available on redhandedpodcast.com

For all the centuries of slavery throughout human history, you might think one group came through mostly unscathed: white Europeans. But for more than a thousand years, Barbary pirates fro North Africa (funded by the Ottoman Empire) prowled European coastlines, snatching unsuspecting Christian folk and taking them to be slaves in the Islamic world. At their height, huge fleets of privateers were raiding coastal towns, sliding their ships silently up onto English beaches in the dead of night, and snatching people in their beds. Here’s the ShortHand, on the forgotten history of the Barbary corsairs. -- Patreon - Ad-free & Bonus Episodes YouTube - Full-length Video Episodes TikTok / Instagram Sources and more available on redhandedpodcast.com

The ever-changing story of neonatal nurse Lucy Letby, and the Countess of Chester baby deaths, has been given the Netflix treatment – and We. Have. Thoughts. For our coverage of the full story, check out our previous deep-dive just before this one in the feed. But in this week’s second-ShortHand, we talk about missed evidence, digital anonymisation, and decide whether or not it changed our minds. -- Patreon - Ad-free & Bonus Episodes YouTube - Full-length Video Episodes TikTok / Instagram Sources and more available on redhandedpodcast.com

In light of the new Netflix documentary about Lucy Letby, we're dipping into the RedHanded archives to revisit our own coverage of this controversial case – following an expert panel's findings in February 2025... Want even more up-to-date analysis? Listen to our new ShortHand episode now: 'ShortHand: Lucy Letby – What Netflix Left Out'. -- An independent panel of experts has concluded that NO murders took place at the Countess of Chester hospital. If true, it would mean that Lucy Letby, currently serving 15 life sentences and branded the UK’s most prolific child serial killer, is innocent – and the subject of the worst miscarriage of justice in recent British memory. We go over what was covered at last week’s press conference – and whether it changed our minds on this complex case. Watch the press conference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT8CO15IHMsStatistical Smoke and Mirrors with Prof John O’Quigley: https://youtu.be/k8jkl255PWI?si=DlYAFeNgU8NFlZ-Y -- Patreon - Ad-free & Bonus Episodes YouTube - Full-length Video Episodes TikTok / Instagram Sources and more available on redhandedpodcast.com

In January 2016, a coffee date between three glamorous Indonesian gal pals turned deadly – when Mirna Salihin, a wealthy and beautiful newlywed, took a sip of a Vietnamese iced coffee that had been laced with a lethal dose of cyanide. The culprit? Her ex-bestie Jessica Wongso. The motive? A toxic case of the green eyed monster: with revenge served ice cold. At least, that’s how the Indonesian courts said it went down. But was it really that simple? A bungled trial, dodgy test results and a crooked legal system meant that many now believe Jessica Wongso could be innocent – no matter how guilty her smile. But what do we think? Join us as we explore the case that divided Indonesia... and left a pretty bitter taste in our mouths. Watch this episode on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/yc7jH8nWB4k -- Patreon - Ad-free & Bonus Episodes YouTube - Full-length Video Episodes TikTok / Instagram Sources and more available on redhandedpodcast.com

From faking insanity to go undercover in an asylum, racing around the world in 72 days, and reporting from the front lines of deadly war zones, this fearless investigative reporter risked everything to expose the truth… and she did it all in a corset. The unstoppable Nellie Bly rewrote all the rules to smash her way into the boys’ club of Victorian journalism, and blazed a trail for all the ladies who followed in her footsteps – including us. -- Patreon - Ad-free & Bonus Episodes YouTube - Full-length Video Episodes TikTok / Instagram Sources and more available on redhandedpodcast.com

Behind the façade of the white-picket-fence dream and adventurous childhoods of suburban, late-70s Michigan, lay a web of depravity that law enforcement was not remotely prepared for. Over the course of just one tragic year, the town of Oakland was terrorised: four children vanished, only to turn up dead. Chillingly, one had even been fed his favourite food, just before his murder. Was this the work of a lone killer? Or an organised, murderous child abuse operation involving a network of predators, stretching all the way to the top? After thousands of leads and countless hours of investigation, not one single arrest has ever been made. So what’s the truth? We open up the coldest case in Michigan: the Oakland County Child Killer. Watch this episode on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/-y8qK_BkeAw -- Patreon - Ad-free & Bonus Episodes YouTube - Full-length Video Episodes TikTok / Instagram Sources and more available on redhandedpodcast.com

Not many of us need convincing that Sesame Street is good; the Muppets have been chaotic TV icons for more than 50 years. But what not many people know is just how much good it did. Not just unmissable TV, but a revolutionary, massive-scale outreach program. One that used ad-land tactics and groundbreaking psychological research, to reset the balance of educational privilege – and teach disadvantaged, inner-city kids how to read. It’s a sunny day. We’re sweeping the clouds away. This is the ShortHand, sponsored by the letter ‘S’. -- Patreon - Ad-free & Bonus Episodes YouTube - Full-length Video Episodes TikTok / Instagram Sources and more available on redhandedpodcast.com

With 2026 bringing widespread anti-government protests to Iran, and the government’s brutal crackdowns leading to thousands of people killed and arrested, we’re rereleasing our coverage on the current regime – and how we got here – through the lens of Mahsa Amini’s murder. -- On 19 May 2024, Ebrahim Raisi – “The Butcher of Tehran” and President of the Islamic Republic of Iran – died in a helicopter crash. Immediately, theories of who had killed him and why, swept the worlds’ media. But while his passing inspired this episode, we’re also going to look at his many thousands of victims – and in particular how his actions led to the murder of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in 2022. It was a single death which sparked protests that challenged the mullahs of Iran like never before. -- Patreon - Ad-free & Bonus Episodes YouTube - Full-length Video Episodes TikTok / Instagram Sources and more available on redhandedpodcast.com